Conrad db staebler



(No Model.) f C. DE STAEBLER.

STREET GAE ATTACHMENT. 110.269.161. Patented Deo. 12, 1882.

CONRAD DE S'IAEBLER, OF S'l. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO BENJAMINR. BONLER, OF SAME PLAGE.

STREET-CAR ATTACH M ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,161, dated December 12, 1882.

Application led May 31, 1882. (No modell panying drawings, forming part ot' this speciy tication, and in which- 1o Figure l is a bottom view of a car with my improvement attached. Fig. 2 is a front view, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation.

My invention relates toa device which is automatically operated to apply the brakes to `15 the wheels in the event of an object of any considerable size being ou the track, avoiding all danger of people being run over by streetcars. While my device applies the b'rakesinstantaneously, it is also provided with a means zo for moving the object should the car not be stopped before the wheels reach it.

A represents theside strips, B the end strips, G the axles, and D the wheels, of a common street-car. 2 5 E is the brake-lever, connected to the brakebeams F F by rods G Gr, as usual, and having at its opposite ends the usual pull-chains, El H. I is a bar connected by one end to the lever E, bent at I to throw its free end up above the axle, as shown. The bar I has teeth J, which at the proper time engages a ratchet-wheel, K, rigidly secured to the axle C, so as to turn with it. Thus the brakes are instantaneously applied by dropping the bar into the ratchetwheel. The free end of the bar rests upon and is held up'out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel byacross-bar, L, connecting two L-shaped gu-ards, MM, pivoted respectively at N N to the sidestrips, A, of the car. As the guards are pivoted near their forward ends it will be seen that their rear ends, when permitted, will drop into the position shown by dotted lines, Fig. 3, which will allow the harto engage the ratchet-wheel, and should the ob- 4 5 ject be reachedibefore the car is quite stopped it will be moved by the lower ends of the p guards. The end of the bar I is straddled by i the lower ends of a lifting-bar, O, which are secured to the cross-piece L, and is thus kept from lateral movement. bar O is to litt the guards into their elevated position. It would pass up through the bottom of the car, and it would preferably have teeth to engage with a plate, P, to prevent the parts being thrown up by the `motion of the 55 car.

I will now describe the means for holding the guards in their elevated position and for tripping them when a person or object on the track is approached: They have upturned 6o ends Q, which, when their freeends are in their natural or upper position, engage with notches R in the upper ends of vertical bars orhangers R,pivoted tothe car-body. By these hangers R the guards are held in their natural or 65 normal position; and it willhbe seen that when their lower ends strike an object their upper ends will be disengaged from the guards, allowing the brake-bar I to drop. The lower ends ot' the bars R are connected, so that should 7o one strike an object the other will be operated also. Likewise, should the object be in the middle of the track, both bars will be operated by the cross-bar striking the object. The purpose or main design ot' my invention is to prevent 75 people being run over by street-cars; so the lower ends ot the bars R should be about six or eight inches from the ground,or low enough to strikethe body of a small child. The bars Rinaybe connected bya plain strip; butI pre- 8o fer to useaconnectingfpiece that will admitof a slight vertical movement on a directly-upward pressure being brought upon it-as, for instance, when the car is rocked unusually hard by a rough crossing, &c.-to avoid damage to 8 5 and an unnecessary operation of` the parts. To this end I turn outward and form holes in the lower ends of the vertical bars R, and' insert in these holes the upturned ends S of a connecting piece or bz S. The ends S are 9o hammered to form j s, preventing them from dropping out.

To the bottom of thecar is secured a hanger, T, whose out-turned lower end receives the stem U'of a yoke, V, which has jonrnaled in 95 it a small wheel, W. On the yoke are ltwo arms, X, which extend back beneath the bar S. Thus it will be seen that on the excessive The purpose of the 5o Q p 269,16l

rocking of the car the wheel W will strike the ground and raise theconneeting-bar S.

l have shown my invention secured to one end of a car; but as a matter of course its duplicate would be attached to the other end also.

I have shown and described my invention 3. The guards M, pivoted to the carbody and having upturned ends Q, in combination with notched vertical bars It, arranged to hold the guards in their elevated position and to drop them at the proper time, as set forth.

4. The cross-piece S,connected tothe bars R, so as to have a vertical movement, in combination with the hanger T, yoke U V, arms "X, and wheel W, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination of brake-beams F, rods G, lever E, bar I, Wheel K, guards M,pu1lrod O, vertical bars R, connecting-rod S, hanger T, yoke U V, Wheel W, and arms Xall made substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

CONRAD DE S'IAEBLER.

Witnesses:

SAML. KNIGHT, GEO. H. KNIGHT. 

